PRESS

“Crescendo’s concerts are always daring and imaginative. [They] have showcased great talent…Its preconcert lectures and elaborate program notes make each concert an education as well as a musical event.”

“Christine Gevert, impresario, conductor and specialist in early music, treated her audience at Trinity Church in Lime Rock Sunday with an adventure in polyphony from the mid sixteenth century not often heard in the Taconic foothills or anywhere else in North America…The effect was one of courtly sophistication.”

“The group sang with a sweet, well-tuned sound…I didn’t realize that there are that many enthusiasts for 16th century music in Connecticut, but Trinity church was packed…Ms. Gevert got some very musical singing out of her group.”

“Under Gevert’s vigorous leadership, the amateur chorus rose to the challenge…the intricate counterpoint came through, and the music carried an expressive, if sometimes idiosyncratic, charge…a worthy initiative by a chorus that prides itself on doing the unusual…A large audience nearly filled the church and cheered the performance enthusiastically.”

Spoils of Conquest: Crescendo Performs Latin American Choral Music – April 2010 The Berkshire Review for the Arts – Seth Lachterman

“Christine Gevert, the indefatigable choral conductor, early music specialist, harpsichordist, and composer, consistently makes her mark in producing unusual and meticulously prepared theme-centric vocal concerts. In the past, we’ve heard rarities of the Mendelssohns (Felix and Fannie), a U.S. premiere of Telemann’s impressive oratorio the Hamburische Kapitänsmusik, and tonight, an exotic syncretism of indigenous Latin America culture and seventeenth-century western European Christianity…the inclusion of both ancient European and Indian instruments added to what Ms. Gevert so accurately asserts is a “Latin American Fusion.”…

“Ms. Gevert brought a special authority and breadth to this evening’s offerings…It is doubtful that any other musician in this region could have mounted such a daunting and fascinating program.”

Music for Civility and Civil Defense – November 2009 US Premiere Georg Philipp Telemann’s Hamburgische Kapitänsmusik The Berkshire Review for the Arts — Seth Lachterman

“The musicians that Ms. Gevert gathered are period specialists of the highest caliber. One could not have imagined a crisper or livelier performance… Ms. Gevert got expressive and precise legatos from her singers. There was something rather touching about Ms. Gevert’s efforts this evening: certainly, much of it was never heard before by the assembled, and most likely will never be heard again.”

“Ms. Gevert and Crescendo’s earnestness, musicianship, and dedication are eternalizing qualities for which we (and Telemann) should be grateful.”

“They succeeded brilliantly in two nearly sold out concerts in Great Barrington, MA, and here in Lime Rock.
…What Gevert has accomplished with her dedicated band of choristers and orchestra players in fewer than four years is amazing…The orchestra, many of the musicians playing period instruments, and the choir, are semi-professional in sound, totally professional in energy, dedication and attention. They give Gevert what she asks for and often more…The Telemann program was cleverly chosen to show the composer’s equal strengths: instrumental, religious and secular…The period instruments sounded exactly right in Lime Rock’s Trinity Church.”

“The Lakeville-based Crescendo music group staged a multimedia premiere of Hugo Distler’s 14-movement “Totentanz” (“The Dance of Death”) last weekend, to packed houses at the First Congregational Church in Great Barrington, MA and at Trinity Church in Lime Rock…The performances received standing ovations in both settings.

“The work of the conductor, Chilean Christine Gevert, is worthy of great praise…Her musical selection is ambitious and different from the more traditional repertoire that one would expect in a suburban area, because it is challenging for the audiences.”

“With Christine Gevert as artistic director and leading spirit, “Crescendo” is an ambitious and quite eclectic undertaking, programming music ranging from the Early Baroque to Contemporary Jazz!!…Judging by this splendid performance “Crescendo” will have no problem adding its own luster to the area’s many choral entities.”

COMPOSERS AND ARTISTS

Dr. Chen Yi, composer of two works Crescendo performed in its concert “New and Ancient Voices: Interpreting Nature in China and the US,” – April 2013

Dave Brubeck, composer of the jazz mass “To Hope,” performed by Crescendo in April 2006

“Your experience with the mass is exactly what I had hoped would happen…Thank you so much for demonstrating how the composition realized those goals in your guiding hands.”

Professional soloist who has performed with Crescendo six times, Dr. Julianne Baird, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University and internationally-acclaimed soprano soloist July 2012

“Crescendo is a unique organization with a stellar reputation in the early music world. Members of Boston’s and New York’s early music communities have grown to admire and respect Crescendo as one of the most groundbreaking ensembles in the U.S. It consistently reflects very high musical levels with its unique combination of amateur and professional musicians and because of its premieres and special events that have garnered national and international attention.”

AUDIENCE

Audience members for “New and Ancient Voices: Interpreting Nature in China and the US” April 2013 Two World Premieres of Works Commissioned by Crescendo Kitty Benedict

“Crescendo’s concert last weekend: A TRIUMPH!I really was not expecting to be attracted to the music, but it was splendid and splendidly performed – fascinating, moving, eye-opening.”

Ruth and Hans Heuberger

“[We want] to tell you how wonderful the concert was last Saturday.We didn’t know what to expect and it far surpassed our imagination! …The chorus was extraordinary. Next Carnegie Hall!”

Audience member for “Darkness to Light – Works by Bach and his Contemporaries” November 2011 – Simone Kailani

“I had the good fortune of hearing Crescendo perform this past Sunday evening in Limerock.Such an achingly beautiful performance—an absolute treat. It was heavenly to hear the music played with early instruments, performed in the perfect venue, and sung in the language it was written.”

Audience member for “Hidden Treasures of Latin American Choral Music” April 2010 – Nancy Tuckerman

“Your concert was true magic. I wish you had been there to hear all the comments during the intermission and afterward. You have good reason to be proud of your accomplishments.”